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Starlight Glimmer and the Secret Suite
My Little Pony: Starlight Glimmer and the Secret Suite by G. M. Berrow, originally titled Starlight Glimmer and the Space-Time Suite and also titled Starlight Glimmer and the Magical Secret, is the twenty-first book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company. In this book, Starlight Glimmer discovers a hidden room in the Castle of Friendship and uses it to have some alone time—with questionable results. Summary Over Booked The story begins at the Castle of Friendship where Starlight Glimmer wanders the hallways, still getting used to the castle's large size and maze-like layout. Behind one uncharacteristically ordinary door, Starlight finds a large collection of books that her teacher Twilight Sparkle plans to donate to Mythica University for the dedication of its new library. Twilight finds a book called Mooncurve's Guide to Interval Incantations, which relates to Starlight's next friendship lesson: making time spent with one's friends count. Though Starlight Glimmer is grateful for Twilight's teachings, the constant lessons have left her utterly exhausted. As she lies down for a nap, she dreams of finding a way to set aside some time to herself. That evening, Twilight and Starlight research ways to improve a magic spell called Mooncurve's Minutiae. While Twilight is focused on the research, Starlight's fatigue and discomfort begin to show. Twilight asks her what's wrong, and Starlight admits to being overwhelmed by all the studying and says she needs some alone time. Twilight realizes how much of an overeager teacher she has been and allows Starlight to take as much rest as she needs. Later, as Starlight wanders the castle halls again, she comes across the same ordinary-looking door as before but in a different location than it was last time. After swearing Spike to secrecy about what she is up to, Starlight goes through the door and discovers not a room filled with books but an idyllic space filled with all of her favorite things. Having a secret room in the castle all to herself, Starlight seals the door from the inside and savors the alone time she now has. Starlight's Suite Inside her personal "suite", Starlight marvels at its various features—including some of her favorite elements—and starts using her alone time to do some solo research on Mooncurve's Minutiae. Some time later, she feels refreshed and ready to spend time with her friends again. She sneaks out of her suite, conceals the entrance, and goes to the castle throne room, where the Mane Six sit around looking upset. The ponies explain to Twilight that Ponyville recently experienced a "hyper time boost", a phenomenon in which time had suddenly sped up; only Twilight herself was not affected. When Starlight is asked where she was during the hyper boost, Twilight explains that she was taking a nap in her room. Starlight starts feeling guilty about her secret suite and offers to help Twilight solve the mystery of the hyper boost, much to the other ponies' relief. A short while later, Twilight goes to Starlight's room and finds her packing things in a saddlebag. She confides in her pupil that, even though she is now the Princess of Friendship, she is under a lot of pressure to help other ponies with friendship problems and be a good teacher to Starlight. In addition, she also desperately wants to finish Mooncurve's Minutiae—not only to prevent another hyper boost, but also to avoid incurring "Comet Tail's Curse", a believed-to-be-imaginary affliction in which unicorns lose their magic. Starlight assures Twilight that they will solve this problem together. Twilight feels reassured by Starlight's words. Since Starlight is packing her bags for a trip, Twilight tasks her with visiting Sunburst in the Crystal Empire for another friendship lesson. However, Starlight had actually been packing some things to bring over to her secret suite. Comet Tail's Curse After stocking up on snacks, Starlight returns to her suite to spend the duration of her alleged trip to the Crystal Empire. She briefly loses track of the suite's entrance, but it magically appears before her in response to her own unicorn magic, ensuring that Twilight will never find it. Once inside, she continues her work on Mooncurve's Minutiae. Meanwhile, the ponies of Ponyville set up for the town's annual Game Night, where the town gets together to play various games and activities. All of a sudden, the town experiences another time phenomenon: everything drastically slows down. A blast of magic from the Castle of Friendship returns everything to normal, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie go to inform Twilight, but another time slowdown slows their progress. Back in the castle, Twilight is alarmed to discover that Comet Tail's Curse is indeed real, as one of her books states, "The wizard who alters another's magic must see to its intended end, or prepare to see their magic come to an end." Meanwhile, Starlight has her own difficulties with completing Mooncurve's Minutiae in her secret suite. When she attempts to cast the spell once more, she creates a magical tornado. The Accidental Vortex After creating a new Oubliettes & Ogres character to reveal during Ponyville's upcoming Game Night, Spike goes to the castle kitchen and discovers that all the snacks he had secretly stashed away were now gone. When he sees some food mysteriously floating through the air, he follows it to the entrance of Starlight Glimmer's secret suite and realizes that she never went to the Crystal Empire. Thus, Spike makes the difficult decision of informing Twilight about Starlight's deception. Twilight follows Spike to the secret suite's entrance, but they find nothing but an ordinary wall. At Spike's insistence, Twilight uses her magic—drained from her attempts to finish Mooncurve's Minutiae—to reveal the entrance. Once inside the suite, Twilight discovers Starlight and the tornado she created. Starlight apologizes to Twilight for lying about going to the Crystal Empire and says she accidentally created a vortex, which Twilight believes only the most powerful unicorns are capable of creating. Unable to stop it herself, Starlight asks for Twilight's help, but both of them are completely drained of their magic, leading them to believe they are afflicted with Comet Tail's Curse. Back outside, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie continue to move toward the castle through the time slowdown. When time suddenly speeds up again, ponies and objects around town start being pulled toward the castle. Inside the suite, Starlight explains to Twilight that she tried to finish Mooncurve's Minutiae for her so she wouldn't have to worry about the hyper boosts or Comet Tail's Curse. Twilight, touched by Starlight's efforts, asks why Starlight would keep the suite a secret, and Starlight says everyone needs their own space sometimes—it makes the time spent with one's friends that much more satisfying. Twilight and Starlight are unsure how to stop the vortex because of Comet Tail's Curse, but Spike assures them that the curse is not real; they are just exhausted from all the spellcasting they have been doing and need to work together. Taking Spike's advice, Twilight and Starlight combine their magic and finish Mooncurve's Minutiae together, stopping the vortex and returning time to normal. Ponyville Game Night With the danger now passed, Starlight Glimmer apologizes to the ponies of Ponyville for ruining Game Night. Luckily, Pinkie Pie sees this as an opportunity for Game Night's first challenge: to see who can pick up the most litter the fastest. With Applejack's encouragement, the ponies agree to this challenge and start cleaning up the mess made by the vortex together. As Game Night is repaired and the night's activities transition into a water balloon fight, Twilight sees everyone having fun and wonders why she ever needed Mooncurve's Minutiae in the first place. Similarly, Starlight Glimmer wonders about the secret room she found and realizes it was an "Andalusian Amplifier"—a room that amplifies everything that happens within it—which explains why her magic was strong enough to create a vortex. As Twilight marvels at the idea of an Andalusian Amplifier being inside her own castle, Starlight distracts her from her thoughts with a water balloon, and they join in the other ponies' water balloon fight. Quotes :Starlight Glimmer: Great Griffon's beak! Another room of books? I'm beginning to think this is all an elaborate practical joke! :Starlight Glimmer: Can I be honest? :Twilight Sparkle: Of course! Honesty and communication are cornerstones of friendship. Just ask Applejack or Pinkie. She named the actual cornerstones of this castle 'Honesty' and 'Communication'! But she also named one of them 'Sea Otter,' so maybe I shouldn't mention it— :Applejack: There I was, standin' in the orchard and the feeling came rushin' over me. Soon I was kickin' my hooves faster than a greased jalopy on an ice luge. I couldn't stop! Not that I'm complainin', really. All my chores are finished early, I guess... :Rarity: I experienced the same exact phenomenon! It was bizarre. But trust me—one does not want to rush an embroidered bodice. It came out quite wonky. Such a terrible shame. :Fluttershy: I was flying and it was the fastest I've ever gone. It was awful. :Rainbow Dash: Well, I didn't feel a thing! But that's probably because I'm already faster than lightning. :Twilight Sparkle: Have you ever heard of Comet Tail's Curse? :Starlight Glimmer: Don't tell me you seriously believe that silly little Unicorn's tale... :Rainbow Dash: Piiiiiinkie Piiiiiie.... Whaaaaat is haaaaappening to uuuuuus? :Pinkie Pie: I think it's Twilight's spell again! We'll never be ready for Game Night at this rate. :Rainbow Dash: I thiiiiiink thaaaat's the leeeeast of ouuur prooobleeems! :Spike: All of the snacks are gone! :Twilight Sparkle: Spike! That's your big crisis? :Pinkie Pie: Look! Everypony's-rushing-over-to-the-castle-I-wonder-why! And-all-the-stuff-for-the-games-is-flying-over-too! How-loony-rooney-is-that?! :Starlight Glimmer: When did you get to know so much about magic, Spike? :Spike: Since I've been hanging around a couple of supersmart wizards all the time! References